Hopkins has celebrated 12 consecutive section championships, including eight straight victories over Wayzata in the Class 4A, Section 6 championship game, but the 78-59 win over the Trojans on March 5 felt different for junior Ava Cupito.

Last year, the sharpshooting guard watched from the bench, out with a knee injury, as the Royals took care of business and went on to with their state-record ninth state title.

“I was actually thinking about that today, like, this is my game, because I really couldn’t play last year,” Cupito said. “I was super excited … I knew we had to come out ready.”

This year, Cupito drained six three-pointers as part of her team-high 22 points to help the Royals (25-2) get past Wayzata (22-6) in a matchup between two of the top teams in Class 4A, with a spot in next week’s state tournament on the line (watch the replay of the game, only on Strib Varsity).

“To be honest, I had a terrible shooting week at practice,” Cupito said. “I was a little stressed out. I was like, ‘I’ve got to find different ways to impact the game.’ But I think once I saw it going in a couple times, it just built my confidence even more.”

The Royals led by seven at halftime and pulled ahead early in the second half, leaving little room for the Trojans, who handed Hopkins its only loss to an in-state opponent in January, to rally for a comeback.

After that 61-52 January loss, the Royals laced up their sneakers for a particularly tough Saturday morning practice.

“We needed to get refocused,” Hopkins head coach Tara Starks said. “Sometimes, I think they put the jersey on and think it’s just going to happen automatically, and that’s not the case.”

Hopkins avenged that loss with a 77-74 February win to help secure the Lake Conference title. The Royals didn’t let it get that close on Thursday. Junior guard Jaliyah Diggs scored 14 of her 18 points after halftime.

“I think it shows our standard a lot,” Diggs said of the team’s willingness to lean in after its regular-season loss. “We’re not settling for bad wins, where we play bad, and we’re like ‘Oh, we won, so we’ll take it.’ We want to be better every single day.”

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Wayzata only sank one three-pointer, and senior guard/forward Kate Amelotte, the Trojans’ leading scorer with 20 points, dealt with foul trouble late.

“We knew Kate was the head of the snake, and we needed to put some pressure on and try to take the ball out of her hands,” Starks said. “They definitely executed the defensive game.”

The Creighton commit received a standing ovation from the Trojans fans as she fouled out with 3:28 to play.

“We never really got in a rhythm, and I thought we were prepared,” Wayzata head coach Julie Stewart said. “We just didn’t execute, however. Everybody was working hard. Just things weren’t falling our way.”

After the Royals’ win Thursday, alumni including Lauren Hillesheim and London Harris, both playing at North Dakota, snapped photos with their former teammates. Hillesheim and Harris helped Hopkins ride its No. 3 seed in last year’s state tournament to a championship.

But many of the core pieces of that title-winning team — such as Diggs, and forward Erma Walker, who had 17 points Thursday against Wayzata — returned, and are eager to lead their team back to Williams Arena.

“Last year, it was really the seniors’ show, it was really their team. I feel like this team is our team, the class of 2027’s team,” Diggs said.

But even if Hopkins is the likely No. 1 seed when the state tournament bracket is announced March 7, Starks doesn’t want her team getting ahead of itself.

“Nothing is automatic,” Starks said. “There’s been a narrative that the team that comes out of this section is the favorite. I don’t want my kids to think like that. I want them to stay locked in and focus on one game at a time.”

Jenkins leads BSM with 25 points

Orono had Benilde-St. Margaret’s number during the regular season, but the Red Knights, the three-time defending Class 3A state champions, knew how to handle the pressure when it counted most.

Entering the section tournament as the No. 3-ranked team in 3A, BSM pulled off the upset with a 77-66 win vs. No. 1 Orono in the Section 6, 3A tournament final on Thursday, March 5 in a packed gym on the road.

The Red Knights (23-6) were swept by Orono in the regular season, but they didn’t play like underdogs on Thursday. The Spartans (24-4) suffered heartache for the second year in a row against BSM.

“You know this atmosphere, our girls thrive on it,” BSM coach Tim Ellefson said. “As much as it can be intimidating, this is what they play for. This is why they come to Benilde, to be in big games.”

Sophomore Zaida Jenkins led the way for BSM with 25 points, 15 of them in the second half. The Red Knights saw their lead shrink to 66-62 after a layup from Ally Moore with less than four minutes to play.

Jenkins, who had scored a combined 23 points in two earlier losses to Orono, nailed a three-pointer to spark an 11-2 run to seal BSM’s fifth straight victory.

“Our team has so many girls who could go off at any time and any moment,” Jenkins said. “After those regular season losses, we just put it to work and into practice. We worked hard for this moment, and this is what we were looking forward to since last season.”

Trailing 27-17 in the first half, Orono battled back with a 10-0 run led by six points from Creighton-bound senior Mya Moore, who had 13 of her 23 points in the first half. The game was tied 34-34 at halftime.

Orono defeated BSM twice during the regular season with scores of 83-72 on Jan. 6 and 66-47 on Jan. 29, which included Moore scoring 51 points in the first meeting. BSM standout Pressley Watkins was held to just three points in the second matchup, but she got the support she needed Thursday from Jenkins and others to return to the state tournament.

“To have a girl like Pressley defer to her teammates,” Ellefson said, “she knows that team basketball wins. She’s a testament to what we do.”

Orono entered the night on an eight-game winning streak. Before Thursday, the team hadn’t lost since Jan. 31, a 64-53 setback to Hopkins. Moore was held to a season-low nine points in that loss, the only game she scored in single digits during the regular season. A couple weeks later, she broke her own school record with 52 points vs. Waconia.

Section 5, 4A

Maple Grove 55, Mounds View 47: Monica Stang made a three-pointer from the corner with 1:33 left to hold off a late rally from the third-seeded Mustangs. Those were the only points she scored in the game.

The Crimson (24-5), the No. 1 seed in the tournament, finished the game on a 7-0 run to advance to the state tournament for the third straight season. Kate Holmquist sealed the victory with a field goal and two free throws. She scored 15 of her 17 points in the second half.

The Mustangs (17-12) trailed 48-41 with 5:57 left, but went on a 6-0 in less than four minutes to cut the deficit to one.

Sienna Mayer and Sophie Anderson added 15 points each for the Crimson. Jaycie Helmer had a game-high 25 points and Avery Lanore had 10 for the Mustangs.

Section 1, 4A

Rochester Mayo 50, Lakeville North 48: Madilynn Bell’s shot at the buzzer missed tying the game for the Panthers. The Spartans earned their first trip to the state tournament since 2015 with the victory.

The top-seeded Spartans (28-1) clung to a one-point, but an illegal screen foul on the Panthers with seven seconds left gave them a chance. The Spartans made one of two free throws before getting the defensive stop on the missed shot.

Amelia Mills led the Spartans with 15 points, including 13 in the second half, and Maggie Dyer had 14.

The Panthers (15-14) had won the section in 17 of the last 19 seasons.

Section 2, 4A

Chanhassen 79, Minnetonka 68: Lucy Hilgert scored 31 points to lead the second-seeded Storm past the top-seeded Skippers. The Storm won their fifth straight game to earn their first trip to the state tournament.

The Storm (21-7) started the game on an 11-2 run and eventually built a 15-point lead going into halftime. The Skippers (21-6) cut the deficit to single digits in the second half, but could not get close enough to the Storm.

Kate Arnold had 22 points and Lyla Hentges added 14 for the Storm. Lanelle Wright led the Skippers with 24 points and Izze Austin had 18.

Section 7, 2A

Duluth Marshall 66, Pequot Lakes 57: The second-seeded Hilltoppers (22-7) won their fifth straight game to earn their first state tournament appearance since 2021. The fourth-seeded Patriots (20-10) came into the game riding a five-game win streak, which included a victory over top-seeded and Class 2A, No. 2-ranked Crosby-Ironton in the semifinal round.